Progressive Heritage: The Evolution of a Politically Radical Literary Tradition in Canada

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The writers discussed in this book embody a neglected segment of
Canadian literature that Northrop Frye dismissed as “sentimental
populism.” From the very beginning, there have been undercurrents of
Marxist thought in Canadian society, and these writers gave voice to
farmers, railroad workers, miners, and others who advocated social
reform and rebelled against capitalist agendas.

The author reinforces the place of writers like Dorothy Livesay and
Milton Acorn in Canada’s literary tradition. He covers progressive
literature through the war years and the Cold War, and devotes a chapter
to “After Stalinism.” The final chapter introduces the reader to the
“New Left,” with in-depth discussions of the works of Pat Lowther,
Helen Potrebenko, and Robin Matthews. The conclusion successfully rebuts
Frye’s label of “sentimental populism” and reiterates the idea
that progressive literature plays an important role in society. The book
concludes with an extensive bibliography.

James Doyle is the author of many articles on Canada–U.S. literary
relations and expressions of political radicalism in Canadian
literature.